Zuckerberg praises partner Globe in plan to ‘connect the world’

Victor Barreiro Jr.

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

At the 2014 Mobile World Conference Zuckerberg talks about connecting people, Whatsapp and the long-term view

ZUCKERBERG SPEAKS. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg describes his plans to connect the world at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 24. Screen shot from Mobile World Live stream.

MANILA, Philippines – At a keynote presentation at the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 24, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened up on his plans for the global coalition called Internet.org.

Zuckerberg talked about Facebook’s acquisition of Whatsapp, and called out Globe Telecom in the Philippines as an example of how Facebook – as part of Internet.org’s plans– is working with local partners to connect the world.

The keynote was presented as a discussion between The Facebook Effect author David Kirkpatrick and Zuckerberg, with moderated questions rounding out the discussion.

The question is Whatsapp

The first big topic of discussion was Facebook’s recent acquisition of Whatsapp for $19 billion. Specifically, why did Facebook pay that much for Whatsapp and what does the acquisition mean to Facebook?

Zuckerberg replied that Whatsapp was a great company, adding that it was “a great fit” for Facebook, pointing to Whatsapp as being “on a path to connecting more than a billion people” around the world.

In a later portion of the discussion, Zuckerberg also pointed out that he held the $19 billion purchase as a small price to pay for a long-term goal, noting that he viewed Whatsapp as more valuable than the price he paid for due to its reach.

The long-term goal, and the overarching theme of Zuckerberg’s keynote, was pointing to his plan to connect the world with a united front of companies supporting the people.

THE FACEBOOK EFFECT. David Kirkpatrick asks Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the company's plans for Whatsapp and the world. Screen shot from Mobile World Live stream.

Internet.org and the “dial tone of the Internet”

As the discussion segued into connecting the world, Zuckerberg’s enthusiasm showed as he reacquainted the audience with the plans of Internet.org.

Internet.org is a global partnership of companies that aim to make speed up the rate of Internet adoption by making Internet access available to more people around the world. (READ: Internet.org aims to bring Internet to all)

Zuckerberg noted that the world was “really not on a path to connect everyone unless something pretty dramatic changes,” citing that only a third of the world actually had Internet connectivity.

While the expectation that the spread of tech would increase the adoption of the Internet, Zuckerberg notes that the most expensive part of being on the Internet was not the phone, but the data plan.

Facebook, along with partners that include Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung, are trying to create the technology and infrastructure that allows more people to get online as efficiently as possible. He feels that those in developed countries don’t quite understand the troubles in the developing world. (READ: Facebook to buy data optimizer Onavo

“The thing I think a lot of people miss is more than 80% of people in the world actually already live in an area where there’s 2G or 3G access,” he notes. Increasing the efficiency of data and making people want to spend some of their income to get online are part of the plans.

Zuckerberg explains in his discussion that the goal of Internet.org is to provide “a dial tone for the internet,” where everyone has access a set of services and information portals that are freely available.

“There’s a set of basic services that we think should exist, whether it’s messaging, or being able to know what the weather is. These are just basic services that people should be able to access,” he adds.

Later on in the discussion, he also noted that app developers have to build a sense of empathy for developing countries with weaker Internet connections.

During a hackathon, Facebook got Ericsson to provide a means of simulating how participating apps worked in specific situations where the Internet situation was worse.

By making people who’ve never tried the Internet see its value, and by making companies and app makers see the importance of making apps that work in the worst situations, Zuckerberg hopes that everyone can help each other to further internet connectivity in the world.

PARTNERSHIP. Globe Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Peter Bithos, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu in Menlo Park, California back in October 2013. Photo from Globe

Working with Globe and building a model

The reasoning for building up an ecosystem that encourages companies and individuals to support the Internet is that by allowing people to see the value of having connectivity, they will want to spend for it.

Zuckerberg cited two countries and companies working with Facebook as a sort of testbed for developing a business model that will not only grow the business of partner companies, but also fulfill Internet.org’s ambitions of connecting the world.

Zuckerberg cited the Philippines and Facebook’s partnership with Globe Telecom as his first example. Globe teamed up with Facebook to offer Globe users with phones that support Facebook as a feature free access to Facebook and Facebook Messenger back in 2013.

He also called out Paraguay and mobile phone operator Tigo to provide users with free Internet services.

Zuckerberg explained the tentative results by saying, “I don’t want to say that we have all the answers yet, but the early results are promising. We’re at the point where we’ve proved to ourselves that the model can work.”

Future revisions to the business model would involve allowing upselling or other tweaks to allow partner companies to recoup losses. He also explained that future iterations of the Internet.org’s plans would include year-long partnerships with companies in “ maybe 3 or 5 countries that are really serious about connecting everyone in their country to services.”

Taking a hit in the short-term

Zuckerberg also reiterated that he is looking at a big-picture view of the world and the goal he’s working towards.

“When I talk about this with my board of directors,” Zuckerberg notes, “they ask me how is this going to be profitable in the near-term.” He acknowledges that it won’t be.

“I think we’re probably going to lose money on this for quite a while,” he explains.

He remains undeterred, however. The tenor of his voice and the enthusiasm with which he explained his vision spoke of someone who believed in a long-term good he could work towards.

“The vision,” he explained, “was that some day someone should try and help connect everyone in the world.” He hopes that, across a 5 to 10-year period, Internet.org can refine the model, find more partners, and see progress in increasing the number of people in the world who are connected.

Zuckerberg also noted he wasn’t concerned about adoption by countries resistant to outside forces. If a particular model works, and people find out about it, others can pick it up even if they aren’t a part of Internet.org.

He noted, “If we do something good for the world, eventually we’ll find a way to benefit from it.”

 

Watch Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote below:

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Victor Barreiro Jr.

Victor Barreiro Jr is part of Rappler's Central Desk. An avid patron of role-playing games and science fiction and fantasy shows, he also yearns to do good in the world, and hopes his work with Rappler helps to increase the good that's out there.